January 2014

Perhaps you seared a fillet of salmon or tuna crusted with pepper for a simple dinner, served (again perhaps) with rice, a green vegetable and lemon wedges for squeezing over all. Here’s a terrific inexpensive accompaniment, the Dry Creek Vineyard Fumé Blanc 2012, Sonoma County. David Stare founded the winery in 1972, a few years after Robert Mondavi created the name Fumé Blanc, modeled on the Loire Valley’s Pouilly-Fumé region where the sauvignon blanc grape reigns supreme. Sauvignon blanc wasn’t selling as a varietal wine in the United States, and Mondavi thought that “fumé blanc” might entice consumers to try it. He was right. One finds both names in California, with some producers, including Dry Creek Vineyard, making a fumé blanc and a varietally-labeled sauvignon blanc. There was a tendency, in those days, to make a fumé blanc wine — “smoky white” — in a supposed Loire Valley style, while sauvignon blanc wines were made in a supposed white Bordeaux fashion, often with some semillon blended in and a bit of oak-aging; those modes even extended to the bottle shape, but such distinctions disappeared years ago. Anyway, the Dry Creek Valley Fumé Blanc 2012, made all in stainless steel, offers a pale straw-gold color and fresh clean aromas of lemongrass and celery seed, lime peel and grapefruit pith, with notes of green pea and thyme and hints of lilac and lavender. Pretty attractive stuff. Lemon and grapefruit flavors are highlighted by touches of mown grass, caraway and limestone in a bright thread that travels down a line of vibrant acidity. 13.5 percent alcohol. Drink through the end of 2014. Very Good+. About $14, representing Great Value.

Wine attracts us by its color and seduces us with its aromas. It’s true that some wines, whites in particular, can be too aromatic, almost cloyingly so. This can happen with torrontes wines from Argentina, with viognier-based wines and occasionally with riesling. What I offer today are six white wines that excel in the aromatic bouquet area, as well as gratifying in flavor and body, easy in the alcohol department and being ever-so-helpful price-wise. Chardonnay figures only as a minority component in one of the wines, and sauvignon blanc occurs not at all. Primarily these are easy-drinking and charming wines, even delightful, and they may give you a foretaste of the Spring that most of the country so desperately longs for, even California, where it’s already an exceedingly, even dangerously dry Summer. As usual, these brief reviews do not touch upon the educational aspects of geography, history, climate and personnel matters for the sake of immediacy. Enjoy!

These wines were samples for review.
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Tenuta Sant’Antonio Scaia 2012, Veneto, Italy. 12.5% alc. Gargenega 60%, chardonnay 40%. Pale gold color; super-floral, with notes of jasmine and camellia; lemon, yellow plums, hint of candlewax; very dry, with a seductive, almost talc-like texture but cut by shimmering acidity and a touch of limestone minerality. Lovely quaff. Drink up. Very Good+. About $11, a Fantastic Bargain.
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Dry Creek Vineyard Chenin Blanc 2012, Clarksburg, California. 12.5% alc. Very pale gold color; hay and straw, heady notes of jasmine and gardenia, roasted lemon and yellow plum; slightly leafy, with a hint of fig; very dry, almost chastening acidity and chalk-flint elements; but quite lively and engaging; tasty and charming. Buy by the case for drinking through 2014. Very Good+. About $12, a Terrific Bargain.
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Mulderbosch Chenin Blanc 2011, Western Cape, South Africa. 13.5% alc. An inexpensive chenin blanc that’s almost three years old? Never fear; this one is drinking beautifully. Shimmering pale gold color with faint green tinge; tell-tale note of fresh straw under quince, honeysuckle, lemon drop and lemon balm and a hint of cloves; brisk and saline, earthy, almost rooty, deeply spicy with a touch of briers; and quite dry. Impressive presence and tone. Drink through the rest of 2014, into 2015. Excellent. About $14, and Worth a Search.
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Eccoci White 2011, Girona, Spain. 13.3% alc. Roussanne 50%, viognier 30%, petit manseng 20%. Utterly unique. Medium gold color; a striking bouquet of roasted fennel, damp straw and lilac, with undertones of limestone, orange blossom, peach and pear; very stylish, sleek and elegant, with macerated and spiced citrus flavors, though clean and fresh and appealing; bracing acidity and a burgeoning limestone quality provide backbone, but this is mainly designed for ease and drinkability. Drink through the end of 2014. Excellent. About $20.
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Luca Bosio Roero Arneis 2012, Piedmont, Italy. 13% alc. 100% arneis grapes. Pale yellow-gold; peach and pear, hint of some astringent little white flower, some kind of mountainside thing going on; baking spice and mountain herbs; salt marsh and seashell; roasted lemon with a note of pear; starts innocently and opens to unexpected heft, detail and dimension. Now through 2015. Excellent. About $20.
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Trisaetum Estate Dry Riesling 2012, Ribbon Ridge, Willamette Valley. 11% alc. Medium gold-color; roasted peach and spiced pear, mango and lychee, hint of rubber eraser or petrol (a good thing in riesling), a subdued floral element; lithe, supple, energetic, you feel its presence like liquid electricity on the palate; lithic and scintillating, brings in grapefruit rind and limestone through the dynamic finish. Faceted and chiseled, exciting. Now through 2017 or ’18. Excellent. About $24.
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Chester Osborn, fourth generation owner and chief winemaker for d’Arenberg, in South Australia’s McLaren Vale, decided that for 2010 he would bottle a separate shiraz wine (and three grenache) from each of the 12 vineyards that contribute to his top “iconic” wine, The Dead Arm Shiraz. The point was to celebrate and emphasize the concept that different ages of vines, variations in soil and sub-soil types, difference in the geological lie of the land, the aspect and exposure — all elements in the notion of terroir — would produce wines of different character. I tasted nine of those 12 very limited edition shiraz wines and found that each one, while generating true syrah/shiraz qualities, exhibited a varying sense of detail and dimension. Primarily what they share is tremendously dense and sizable structures and, in some cases, nearly impenetrable tannic and mineral qualities; they’re wines made for the long haul.

Australia doesn’t hold a patent on strange and colorful names for wine labels, but that continent surely can lay claim to jump-starting the trend, with the irrepressible Chester Osborn taking a good deal of the blame. I won’t explain the flamboyant names of the separate vineyards represented here, though each label, traversed by the signature d’Arenberg red stripe, has a tale to tell. Osborn himself is depicted in pixie fashion on each image, complete with his trademark curly blond locks and loud shirts.

I’ll offer these brief notices in alphabetical order. All of these McLaren Vale shiraz wines received an oak regimen of 20 months in new and old French barriques and old American barrels. Production for each was 200 six-pack cases; price per bottle is $85.

You know how the synergy thing goes: great food, the wine that turns out to be perfect…Bingo! Such a moment occurred last Saturday on Pizza-and-Movie Night, as with a terrific guanciale-green olive-basil-and-radicchio pizza I opened a bottle of the Teunta Sant’Antonio Monti Garbi Ripasso 2010, Valpolicella Superiore, from the Veneto region in northeast Italy. “Monti Garbi” is the Castagnedi family’s estate vineyard. The wine is composed of 70 percent corvina and corvione grapes, 20 percent rodinella and 10 percent croatina and oseleta, all traditional grapes of the Valpolicella area. “Ripasso” refers to the technique of refermenting the young wine on the pomace of the previous year’s more full-bodied and typically higher alcohol Amarone. Aging — usually 15 or 16 months for this wine — is accomplished in 500-liter tonneaux barrels, about twice the size of the standard French barrique; 30 percent of the barrels are new. What’s the result? A robust red wine of medium ruby color and a seductive bouquet of dried spice, dried flowers and dried black and red fruit, with notes of pomegranate and plums; try to imagine a pomander with potpourri, your grandmother’s spice box, macerated black and red cherries and a dose of smoky oolong tea and you get some idea of what I mean. Matters turn a bit more serious, mouth-wise, as the wine exercises its dry, slightly chewy tannins, its swingeing acidity — which contributes liveliness, buoyancy and freshness — and its graphite-tinged minerality, none of which detract from juicy ripe dark cherry and plum flavors (with a hint of sour cherry and orange rind) and rollicking spice. 14 percent alcohol. This was great with the pizza and would also be a treat with hearty pasta dishes and grilled or braised meat or a lunch of salami, olives and dry cheeses. Now through 2017 to 2020. Very Good+. About $19.

Including not merely a roster of pinot noir wines from California but a pinot meunier made as a still wine — it mostly goes into Champagne and sparkling wine — and two pinot gris/grigio wines, one from northeast Italy, the other from Sonoma County’s Russian River Valley. As usual in these quick reviews, ripped, as it were, from the fervid pages on my notebooks, I eschew the available range of technical, historical, geographical and personal (or personnel) detail to concentrate on immediacy and my desire to pique your interest and whet your palate. Enjoy!

These wines were samples for review.
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Ascevi Luwa Pinot Grigio 2012, Collio, Italy. 12.5% alc. Pale straw-gold color; winsome aromas of hay and almond blossom, saline and savory; roasted lemon, spiced pear; a little briery; very dry, crisp and chiseled but appealing moderately full body and texture; a far more thoughtful pinot grigio than one usually encounters. 1,500-case production. Excellent. About $19.
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MacMurray Ranch Pinot Gris 2012, Russian River Valley, Sonoma County. 15% alc(!). A Gallo label. Medium gold color; jasmine and honeysuckle, lemon and lemon balm, baked pear, all very spicy and intricately woven; attractive supple texture and bright acidity, but you feel some alcoholic heat on the slightly unbalanced finish. Very Good. About $20.
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La Crema Pinot Noir 2012, Monterey County. 13.5% alc. Jackson Family Wines. Medium ruby-violet color; black cherries and currants, cloves, tobacco and sassafras, hint of brown sugar; earthy and loamy, moss and mushrooms; very dry but satiny and supple, with tasty black fruit flavors; the oak comes up a bit in the finish, along with some graphite-tinged minerality. Now through 2016. Very Good+. About $23.
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La Crema Pinot Noir 2012, Sonoma Coast. 13.5% alc. Jackson Family Wines. Lovely limpid ruby-magenta color; sour cherry and melon, pomegranate, cranberry and cloves, develops a hint of smoke and black cherry; lovely and limpid, again, in the mouth, flows like satin across the palate but enlivened with keen acidity; notes of earth and brambles. Drinks very nicely but doesn’t have the heft that La Crema pinot noirs typically display. Now through 2015. Very Good+. About $25.
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La Rochelle Pinot Noir 2009, Sonoma Coast. 14.9% alc. 326 cases. Enrapturing ruby-magenta color; a lithe and supple pinot noir that takes 45 minutes to loosen up a bit; cranberry and cola, dried cherries and raspberries; cloves and allspice, fairly exotic; buoyed by bright acidity and slightly bound by oak and tannin. Now through 2015. Very Good+. About $42.
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La Rochelle Deer Meadows Vineyard Pinot Noir 2010, Anderson Valley, Mendocino County. 14.3% alc. 235 six-pack cases. A real beauty. Lovely medium ruby-plum color; black and red cherries, pomegranate and pomander, oolong tea, sassafras and beetroot, slightly earthy and loamy, yes, the whole panoply of sensation; a few moments bring in notes of iodine, mint and graphite; very dry, dense, almost chewy, quite notable tannins for a pinot noir but well-managed and integrated; gathers power and paradoxical elegance in the glass. Now through 2016 to ’18. Excellent. About $75.
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La Rochelle Saralee’s Vineyard Pinot Meunier 2012, Russian River Valley. 13.9% alc. 866 cases. Pinot meunier is primarily grown as a minority component in Champagne and sparkling wine production. Entrancing transparent ruby-magenta color with a clear rim; delicate, dry, slightly raspy in the sense that raspberries and their leaves can be raspy; black and red cherry compote, spiced and macerated, with a subtle element of dried fruit, flowers and spices; damask roses, note of violets; dust, earth, a touch of loam, enlivened by swingeing acidity that plows a furrow. Now through 2016. Oddly Excellent. About $38.
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Liberty School Pinot Noir 2012, Central Coast. 13.5% alc. The first pinot noir from this label known for well-made and moderately priced cabernet sauvignon. Makes sensible claims and meets them: Medium ruby color; black cherry and plum, hints of rhubarb and tart mulberry; smoke and cloves; reasonably supple texture; a little merlot-ish overall, though. Very Good. About $20.
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MacPhail Family Wines “The Flyer” Pinot Noir 2011, Green Valley of Russian River Valley. 14.1% alc. Medium ruby-magenta color; quite intense and concentrated for pinot noir, ripe and vivid black and red cherries, smoke, cloves; vibrant acidity cuts a swath, it’s very satiny but with a tannic and oaken core that ramps up the power and somewhat masks the varietal character. Still, it makes an impression. Very Good+. About $59.
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Rodney Strong Pinot Noir 2012, Russian River Valley. 14.5% alc. Medium ruby color; pungently spicy and floral, notes of tobacco and coffee bean, cranberry, pomegranate and rhubarb; black cherries with a briery, mossy undercurrent; very satiny, drapes over the palate as it flows; fairly deep and dark aura for pinot noir, with a graphite element and resolutely spicy with cloves and sandalwood, moderately dense tannins. Quite a package. Now through 2016 or ’17. Excellent. About $25.
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When I first started trying a lot of wines in the early 1980s, among the most impressive were zinfandels and petite sirah wines from Fetzer Vineyards, launched when Barney Fetzer, who bought acreage in Mendocino County, released a zinfandel and a cabernet sauvignon from the 1968 vintage. Fetzer expanded hugely over the years and was in the forefront of several movements, for example, organic farming on the one hand, white zinfandel on the other. The family sold the winery and its brands to Brown-Forman in 1992; that company sold Fetzer and related labels to Vina Concha y Toro, the large Chilean producer, in 2011 for a reported $238 million. The wine under consideration today is the Five Rivers Pinot Noir 2012, Santa Barbara County; Five Rivers is a Fetzer brand that was created in the early 2000s. I will say right here that the Five Rivers Pinot Noir 2012 is one of those wines that performs above its station in life. The color is dark ruby with a magenta rim; enticing aromas of black cherries and plums, pomegranate and cola are woven with hints of cranberry and sassafras and traces of smoke, leather and loam. The texture is lovely, lithe and supple and handily supports real presence and personality; vivid black and red fruit flavors are highlighted by touches of cloves and cinnamon, lively acidity and a moderate element of graphite minerality. It’s true that this wine falls a tad short in the finish, but in every other respect it’s worthy of My Readers’ attention. You could sell the hell out of this wine in restaurant by-the-glass programs. 13.5 percent alcohol. Drink now through 2015. Very Good+. About $15, representing Great Value.

What I mean is, here are eight wines that I tasted in the last few months of 2013 that I wish I had written about before 2013 turned to 2014. Time, of course and unfortunately, has a way of slipping away from us, so I present these wines to My Readers today, a drippy, dreary, gloomy and chilly day (as well as several other Official Dwarves) in my neck o’ the woods, as examples of wines with total appeal in terms of presence and personality, integrity and authenticity and even, in a few cases, unimpeachable charisma. As usual in these Weekend Wine Notes — oops, it’s Monday! — I forsake the technical, historical, geographical data of which I am so fond for the sake of blitzkrieg reviews, ripped from the pages of my notebooks, intended to pique your interest and whet your palates. Five are from California, two from Argentina, one from Chile; prices range from $20 to $120; that’s the breaks. Enjoy!
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Morgan Double L Vineyard Riesling 2012, Santa Lucia Highlands, Monterey County. 10.5% alc. 172 cases. Pale gold color; lightly spiced peach and pear, lime peel, notes of jasmine, mango and lychee; sleek, subtle, crystalline, faceted by bright acidity and limestone minerality, contrastingly soft as a poached peach; highlights of roasted lemon and grapefruit rind. Really lovely. Now through 2015 or ’16. Excellent. About $22.
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Garcia & Schwaderer “Marina” Sauvignon Blanc 2012, Casablanca Valley, Chile. 13.5% alc. 300 cases imported. A beautifully integrated and harmonious sauvignon blanc. Pale gold color; cool, restrained and elegant; grapefruit and pear, pea-shoot and tangerine, notes of lime peel and lemongrass; very crisp with brisk acidity and scintillating limestone element, lithe and supple; finishes with hints of thyme and green apple. Drink through 2015. Excellent. About $25.
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MacRostie Winery and Vineyards Chardonnay 2011, Sonoma Coast. 14.1% alc. Pale straw-gold color; lovely and softly ripe but lean and minerally with limestone and flint and bright acidity; clean, fresh yet earthy; apple, lemon, spiced pear; touch of mango and jasmine; deeply spicy and flavorful, especially with yellow stone fruit; elegant presentation and poise; always a favorite of mine. Now through 2015 or ’16. Excellent. About $25.
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Catena Zapata White Stones Chardonnay 2010, Mendoza, Argentina. 13% alc. Limited production. A stupendous achievement. Medium gold-yellow color; roasted lemon, spiced peach, lightly buttered toast, jasmine and lilac; limestone and gunflint; amazing symmetry, power and resonance; fills the mouth and caresses the palate but not at the expense of litheness and potent acidity; juicy and flavorful but quite dry, a little smoky, with a long finely woven finish. Now through 2018 to 2020. Excellent. About $120.
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Catena Zapata White Bones Chardonnay 2010, Mendoza, Argentina. 13% alc. Limited production. Medium gold-yellow color; even more intense and concentrated than its White Stones stablemate mentioned above; the roasted lemon and peach but more pear here, a smokier chardonnay, with hints of jasmine and camellia, touch of caramel, quince and ginger; the kind of wine in which you feel the tension and energy of greatness and a white wine that’s almost tannic in depth and dimension; supple and creamy but balanced by chiming acidity and resonant limestone minerality. Drink through 2020 to ’22. Certainly the best chardonnay I have tasted from South America. Exceptional. About $120.
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Lee Family Farm Tempranillo 2012, Arroyo Seco, Monterey County. 13.5% alc. 98 cases. Vivid ruby-magenta color; black currants and blueberries with a pert touch of mulberry, intense and concentrated; batteries of spice and graphite; dense, chewy grainy tannins and vibrant acidity; deep black and blue fruit flavors infused with cedar, tobacco, black licorice and potpourri; very pure and vital, loads of personality. Now through 2015 or ’16. Excellent. About $20.
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Bonny Doon Jespersen Ranch Syrah 2010, Edna Valley, San Luis Obispo County. A remarkable 12.7% alc. 483 cases. Deep ruby-purple color with a magenta rim; lovely, approachable; plums, lavender, violets and leather, earthy but fresh and scintillating; blackberries and blueberries, smoke, fruitcake, graphite with a touch of charcoal edge; beautifully balanced but with burgeoning regimen of tannin, oak and granitic minerality. Now through 2016 to ’18. Excellent. About $40, primarily for Bonny Doon’s wine club.
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MacRostie Pinot Noir 2010, Sonoma Coast. 14.2% alc. Medium ruby color with magenta highlights; spiced and smoky black and red cherries and plums, notes of classic beetroot and pomegranate, violets and sassafras; a kind of definitively chiseled heft and structure, with acidity that cuts a swath, slightly raspy tannins and a hint of briers and brambles, but seductive balance and integration married to its more serious aspects. Another favorite. Now through 2016 or ’17. Excellent. About $34.
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“50 Great Wines of [The Year]” is a post I look forward to, even though its production is fraught with anxiety. “Fraught with anxiety!” you exclaim. “FK, you get to taste and write about terrific wines all year long! This task should be easy!” Look, my apostrophe-addicted friend, I started with a list of 76 potentially great wines and had to eliminate 26 of them. It was painful; it hurt my brain and my spirit. Even now, going back over this post just before I click the PUBLISH button, I am wracked by indecision and regret. On the other hand, life is about choices, n’est-ce pas, and we all have to knuckle down and make those choices, difficult as the job may be.

I reviewed 624 wines in 2013, compared to, for some reason, 642 in 2012, though I suppose 18 wines is not statistically significant in that range. Or perhaps it is; I’m not a statistician. Out of 642 wines in 2012, I rated 18 wines Exceptional. In 2013, out of 624 wines, I rated 28 as Exceptional. Did I taste that many better wines in 2013, or am I getting soft as I near my 30th anniversary as a wine writer? How did I choose, for “50 Great Wines of 2013,” the 22 examples to add to the 28 rated Exceptional? By reading again every review I wrote over the past year, by weighing the description and the language, by revisiting my memory of the wine, by looking for wines that possessed that indescribable quality of charisma, that combination of personality and character that distinguish a great wine. I could expand this post to 60 or 70 or 75 wines, but I’ll leave it as is. Suffice to say that these “50 Great Wines of 2013″ could include others, but for now, I’m sticking with these.
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Artesa Vineyards & Winery Estate Reserve Pinot Noir 2009, Napa Valley. Excellent. About $40.
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Adelsheim Ribbon Springs Vineyard Auxerrois 2012, Willamette Valley, Oregon. Excellent. About $25.
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Amapola Creek Jos. Belli Vineyard Chardonnay 2011, Russian River Valley, Sonoma County. 400 cases. Exceptional. About $45.
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Archery Summit Vireton Pinot Gris 2012, Willamette Valley, Oregon. Excellent. About $24.
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Belle-Pente Winery Belle-Pente Vineyard Pinot Noir 2010, Yamhill-Carlton District, Willamette Valley, Oregon. 785 cases. Excellent. About $35.
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Black Kite Cellars Rivers Turn Pinot Noir 2010, Anderson Valley, Mendocino County. Excellent. About $52.

Today, or this eve, is Twelfth Night, the traditional 12th Day of Christmas that heralds Epiphany on January 6, the day that the Wise Men or the Magi arrived in Bethlehem after following the brilliant star in the west. We get the symbolism; first to pay homage to the baby Jesus were shepherds, and then came the kings. The 12 days between Christmas and Epiphany were marked in the Middle Ages and Renaissance, by celebration and revelry, not to mention burlesque and ribaldry, a sequence of disguise and exchanged identity — male and female, master and servant — not unlike the elements that Shakespeare employed in his romantic comedy Twelfth Night; or, What You Will, a play dominated by star-crossed relationships. In any case, we could use a few Wise Men around these days to work some wonders. The point is, really, that today means the conclusion of the 7th annual series, “The Twelve Days of Christmas with Champagne and Sparkling Wine,” and we’ll end with a flourish of three products, a Prosecco from northeast Italy ( Veneto), a sparkling wine from California and a Champagne from that fabled region in France. Enjoy! And Happy 2014….

Image from sfstl.com, the website of the Shakespeare Festival of St. Louis.
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The mid-range sparkling wine from Adriano Adami is the Bosco di Gica Valdobbiadene Prosecco Superiore, composed of 95 to 97 percent glera grapes and 3 to 5 percent chardonnay. It’s a very pale gold hue, almost silver, and the bubbles glint like silver fireworks within. Let’s just say that this fresh, clean sparkling wine, even in its bracing steel and saline qualities, is delightful. There’s a note of green apple and apple peel, bare hints of roasted lemon and lemon balm, and a finish of limestone and almond skin. 11 percent alcohol. Great for parties and receptions. Very Good+. About $18.

Imported by Dalla Terra Winery Direct, Napa, Calif. A sample for review.
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The Chandon Blanc de Noirs — white from black — carries a California designation, meaning that grapes wee selected from vineyards in
different parts of the state. It’s a blend of 91 percent pinot noir grapes, 6 percent chardonnay and 2 percent pinot meunier. The color is very pale gold enlivened by an enchanting and dynamic stream of tiny bubbles. This is a pert, tart sparkling wine, full-bodied and savory, almost balsamic in its depths, but highlighted by notes of red currants and lime peel. It displays lovely tone and presence and could almost be called viscous if its creaminess were not cut by crisp and incisive acidity; the finish reveals a touch of sweet red fruit ripeness. 13 percent alcohol. Excellent. About $22.

A sample for review.
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This is what I like in Champagne: A torrent of bubbles, a blizzard of steel; a softness of spiced pear and orange blossom; a strict regimen
of bright acidity and scintillating limestone minerality. The Delamotte Brut — 55 percent chardonnay, 35 percent pinot noir, 10 percent pinot meunier; 30 to 36 months on the lees — delivers those exhilarating qualities as well as fleeting notes of apple and grapefruit and hints of cinnamon toast and hazelnuts. Mainly though this is about elegance and austerity, fine bones, chiseled stones and impressive purity and intensity. 12 percent alcohol. It doesn’t say so on the label, but this is a Champagne derived from Grand Cru vinyards, so the price is also impressive. Excellent. About $45 to $50.